VULCAN VIEW - KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK: BREXIT  Brexit talks on financial services reveal continued divisions on tradeReports emerged this week that Brussels and London reached an agreement on financial services trading, causing the pound to rise significantly on Thursday. The question of the UK’s financial services sector’s access to the EU market has been a key issue in negotiations, as UK-based banks have pushed for close alignment with the EU. The EU’s existing “Equivalence” regime for third countries allows non-EU financial...

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Following the recent Salzburg summit where the EU rebuffed Theresa May’s Chequers Plan, business across the UK are grappling with the possibilities of Brexit, and what the UK’s departure from the EU will look like on a practical level. Whilst many SMEs, including participants  in our recent Brexit survey, are approaching the break with a cautious optimism, they are also busy with contingency planning in the event of a no-deal scenario. What businesses and employees alike are craving is certainty...

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Each year, at OCO Global (a company specialized in International Trade and Investment) we deal with hundreds of UK SMEs and advise and support them on their international growth plans. To supplement what we are hearing and seeing in our daily work, we have commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK SMEs, looking at the impact, expectations and level of preparedness ahead of Brexit. Key findings include: Third of UK SMEs believe Brexit will be positive for their business (driven by existing exporters),...

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